In Three Words
by Gryphon117
Summary: A young girl faces any student's worst nightmare: Homework.
1. My Daddy: Shinji Ikari

Some people say that my daddy ended the world.

I never really understood what they meant by 'ending the world', though. When I go outside I see the ground under my feet, buildings all over, and a blue sky above. I hear the sound of people talking, birds chirping and the occasional car driving along the road. How could any of that be possible if the world had 'ended'?

I guess what they meant to say (and continue to, sometimes) was that there used to be a lot more people in the world before Daddy 'screwed up', and that there wasn't a red line across the moon's path, either. But that's fine by me. I don't like it when there is a lot of people, and I enjoy stargazing with Daddy and Mommy when a full moon's out. Auntie Rei joins us when she's around town, too, and that makes it even better! So, yeah, I think the bit of red on black and white looks pretty cool, but different strokes and all that, I guess.

But that doesn't mean that those jerks are right. After all, they wouldn't even _be_ here if it wasn't for Daddy. They should thank him for that!

…Or that's what Mommy likes to say from time to time, anyway, whenever she spots Daddy looking a bit down for a while. I'm not sure _why_ , but she must have a real good reason for saying it. She's a genius, after all! And Mommy used to say it pretty often, too, with some people looking almost ashamed right after, which doesn't really make a lot of sense if it was some sort of lie.

Oh, and I say 'used to' because these days Daddy doesn't get people talking behind his back all that much anymore, but I remember a time when I was smaller and people whispered wherever we went. It didn't matter if it was the market, the park, or even the school playground, almost nowhere was safe from the angry comments and angry faces of the townspeople. They would say that Daddy was 'responsible', that things were better before the 'Impact', or that he should have 'grown some balls when it mattered'.

And every time that Mommy wasn't around to glare those jerks into being quiet (and even some times when she was), Daddy would quietly call out to me, gather me in his arms and just leave without saying a word. Said that 'They had a right to their opinion and that it wasn't worth fighting over' when I asked him why, leaving me with yet another thing that I didn't get when I was a little girl with a very Mother-influenced sense of right and wrong.

Now I understand that Daddy simply didn't want to make things worse for us by angering the townspeople, and I guess he was right since they _did_ eventually sort of stop bringing up the 'end of the world' bit. I didn't get to play too much with other children because of it, though, so that's probably one of the big reasons why I don't really like to be with other kids around my age all that much.

But that's no big deal.

Of course, back in the day I would also do my part in cheering Daddy up whenever Mommy's usual tactics failed to do the trick: I would help him with the house chores and with maintaining our small field of crops, I would talk him into playing some instrument or another for me, or make him a nice little something whenever we did Arts & Crafts at school. I remember how he lit up when I brought him a toy bunny I had thrown together using some clay and paint, and how I…

…

…But I'm getting sidetracked, this isn't supposed to be about me. Sorry, Sensei.

I think a word that describes my Dad is 'calm'. He never loses his temper and it's hard to find him with anything other than a contented smile on his face. He likes to keep little noise around the house and the only person I've ever seen him argue with is Mommy, and even then he's like a strong wind to Mommy's stormy typhoon. Auntie Rei, too, acts very much in the same way Daddy does, but she somehow manages to always sound _even calmer_. I guess it's something that runs in the family.

The funny thing is that Mommy once told me that Daddy used to get so angry that it even scared _her_ , and my mom is no coward. And while I believe her, I look at Dad and can't help but break out laughing whenever I try to picture him raising his voice above stern scolding levels of volume. It just doesn't suit him.

In any case, I think the above also shows in the way in which Daddy decides to carry on his life: while Mom wasted no time in climbing the social ladder until she became the mayor of our town, Daddy is just happy to stay back at home and hold the fort, taking care of all the things that need to be taken care of (like me!) so that everything can be ready when a usually exhausted Mommy gets back home late in the evening. Some other kids in my class have it the other way around, with their dads going out to work and their moms staying back. Some others have both their parents working, but even if a few of my so-called classmates (childish morons, really) claim that no true man should be doing 'woman' tasks like cleaning the house, I think this is the arrangement that works best for our family.

After all, and considering the sort of dinner she has cooked for the two of us on the rare occasions when Daddy has gone out for the night with his friends, I can declare with no room for error whatsoever that Mommy is just plain not suited for household life. Both my mind and my stomach are far happier knowing that Mommy's the more ambitious of the two, and that Daddy won't ever create an omelette that comes out _green_.

So, yeah. Like I said, Daddy is the one that takes care of the household obligations (with some help on my part!) and he takes more than a bit of pride in his work: no spot of dust is suffered to exist and no piece of furniture, be it big or small, is allowed to stand out of its designated place. These two rules are of mandatory fulfilment in the Ikari-Sohryu household and any rule-breakers do so at their own peril, as some of our more... _relaxed_ guests quickly found out on their very first visit.

...My prayers go to you, Katsuragi-san.

A second word to describe my Daddy would be 'talented', I think, at least as far as music goes. Mommy complains that the 'Invincible Shinji' was also annoyingly talented at their teenage jobs, but since they've never gone into too much detail with what it was that they did, I can't really talk about that. I can sure say that I have yet to meet another self-taught person who can play as many musical instruments as my Daddy, though: he knows how to play the transverse flute, the guitar, the piano, the violin and a few more instruments that he doesn't bring out as often.

But what I didn't know until three years ago was that Daddy also played the cello. I always knew that there was a well-maintained cello in the house, but since Daddy had never played it in front of me I had just assumed that it was another instrument that he wanted to learn at some point. From what Mommy told me, though, Daddy had asked to have that same cello repaired a long time ago, but she had never ever seen him play it since.

When I asked him why, Daddy only told me that thinking about playing the cello again made him sad, and then he had a small argument with Mommy in which she claimed that Daddy should just 'get over it already', whatever that meant. The only thing I learned that day was that Daddy's cello apparently had belonged to his Mother first, my Grandma that passed away before I was born, and that the way she died had something to do with Daddy not wanting to play the cello?

In any case, things sort of remained like that for a few more days, and I had almost completely forgotten about the cello in the first place when Makinami-sensei showed up out of nowhere, with auntie Rei and a shocking proposal in tow:

She wanted Daddy to play the cello in her jazz band, _Marie's Four_ , that same well-liked band that had been filling the town restaurant every Saturday evening for months. And I remember how Daddy repeated Makinami-sensei's words to himself, looking white as a sheet, and then tried to duck back inside with a made up excuse only to find Mommy standing right behind him.

That last one shocked Daddy and me both, because I never knew Mommy could be so quiet. Mommy followed that by pushing Daddy back into the middle of the group and taking a place next to Makinami-sensei and auntie Rei, saying that it 'couldn't hurt to try' since he had a lot of free time that he spent practising random instruments on his own, anyway. It was a waste to keep it all to himself and the family, Mommy said.

Auntie Rei quickly agreed on that, too (which was weird, because Mommy and Auntie usually don't agree on much), and it wasn't long until us family women plus Makinami-sensei had cornered Daddy into agreeing to give the band a try, despite his obvious doubts.

I was a bit scared back then that we had forced Daddy into doing something that he didn't like, but considering that Makinami-sensei's band soon changed its name to _Marie's Five_ , I think it's safe to say that Daddy enjoys it there. He's been looking a lot happier since, too.

And actually, I think that's the last word I want to describe Daddy with: 'happy'. Happy to be alive and with Mommy, Auntie and me, in his own way. Happy to play with _Marie's Five_ and make other people happy, making use of the gift he has been given. Maybe he's not the strongest Daddy in the world, or the smartest or the bravest, but he's kind, he's funny, and he's a perfect match for Mommy's more impulsive personality. Plus, he (almost) always has a special smile for me that he brings out whenever we play together, whenever we go out shopping, whenever he notices that _I_ am the one who has something on her mind, or just whenever we just… plain spend time together.

And I don't think I'd change any of that, not for anything in the entire world. You're not perfect, but I love you anyway, Daddy.

* * *

 **A/N: No, I'm not dead. Since the last thing I published was nearly a year ago I can kind of understand the suspicion, but I'm just busy working on another project that won't be published until it starts nearing completion. I hit a bit of a snag with the scene I'm currently at, though, so I decided to take a small breather and came up with this.**

 **In case anyone's wondering, this short piece follows a random Post-3I Good Ending kind of timeline, where most things went about as well as could have been expected. The backstory is not at all important, however, so feel free to fill in the blanks however you like best. In fact, I'm intentionally leaving many vague details around the story for that exact purpose, so go nuts.**

 **As it stands, I'm currently thinking of doing four character bits of similar length to this one, but I'll add more to the overall story if I happen to come up with any good ideas for other people. Do look forward to it.**


	2. My Mommy: Asuka Langley-Sohryu

I think the first word to describe my Mommy would be 'demanding'. She doesn't want me to be perfect at everything, but she gets mad when Daddy or me don't try our hardest at something. No slacking off on what needs to be done, in short, which has been exactly her own way of handling things for the longest time, according to Daddy.

I think that's fair now, but I used to hate it a few years back because schoolwork was so painfully easy and _boring_ , with hours and more hours of being spoon-fed the most basic of explanations. I never failed a subject, but our old Sensei made a habit of taking off points from my grades for 'passive behaviour in class', which Mommy always read as me 'not trying my hardest'. And then, arguments between the two of us would ensue over the whole thing for at least three days, or until Daddy (or Auntie Rei if she was around at the time) thought it safe enough to get involved and defuse the situation.

Mommy's temper is really something else and Daddy often jokes that, as far as that goes, I take after her a little more than he would like. It's only fair, he says, to have the both of us loudly arguing when Daddy and Auntie are always so calm and collected. A balance must be kept.

And I used to get a bit mad at Daddy for that, but I eventually stopped when I noticed that it only made him laugh harder.

In any case, I love Mommy very much, but she can be a real pain when she wants to. And I guess I am, too, sometimes. Thankfully, the above has been a moot point ever since we got Makinami-sensei in our group, so it's all good now.

Except for Geography. Geography can still burn down in a fire.

Speaking of Makinami-sensei, she and Mommy apparently go way back, and Sensei once told me in private that the 'Princess' (no clue where that comes from) has always been like that, all righteous fury and indignation one second and an 'affectionate kitten' the next. Sensei also joked that Mommy's two sides had Daddy all sorts of confused back before they started dating, and that if I thought they were bad _now_ , I should have seen their arguments/flirting back in the day. Makinami-sensei finished by saying that getting Mommy and Daddy together was _easily_ 'the hardest thing she had done in her life'.

And I would have liked to see that. Although I guess I _do_ see it, now that I think about it, whenever Daddy and Mommy argue over something just to make up a few minutes later. They have their problems, but I think it's obvious that they love each other (and me) very much.

Speaking of, I think the second word for Mommy would be 'loving'. Makinami-sensei put it very well when she called her an 'affectionate kitten', because for half of the time when she's not being grumpy Mommy is very touchy, always looking for an excuse or another to hug me or Daddy tightly. And I like that. Plus, whenever we're alone and not fighting, Mommy always calls me 'Her Little Dolly'.

And that name is a bit of a secret between us, I guess. Or at least, Mommy asked me not to tell Daddy or auntie Rei about it, saying they would worry if they knew. I didn't understand back then _why_ they would worry about it (and I still don't), but I made sure to do as she said and keep our little secret to ourselves, anyway. Mommy probably has her reasons, after all, and it's well-known that her mind can work in mysterious ways, sometimes. A flaw of being a genius, I'd bet.

Besides, it's not like I don't have another big secret I'm keeping with auntie Rei, anyway. I'm already a pro at this kind of stuff.

Mommy is also a pretty good singer, and I learned that during her thirtieth birthday celebrations. Since that year was also the year that Mommy had been elected for her second term as town Mayor, we decided to throw a small party for her at the Horaki family restaurant to commemorate both occasions. I remember Mommy complaining about making such a big deal out of it, but it wasn't long before she got into the mood and began to have fun at the party with everyone else. The cooks under Horaki-san's orders cooked us an amazing dinner feast and _Marie's Five_ gave Daddy the night off, but the event that _really_ made the party happened when Marie basically trapped Mommy into going up onto the stage with her to sing a duet.

And go up she did, even if Mommy protested as much as she could before she fell to peer pressure. I remember her looking all sorts of embarrassed as every eye in the restaurant turned to her and the first notes of 'Fly me to the Moon' began to play...

...but Mommy did an amazing job of it.

She wasn't as good as Marie, of course, but she wasn't that far behind, either. And that surprised me because Mommy had never trained her voice before, as far as I knew. Maybe she did some karaoke during her regular girls' nights out with Sensei, Auntie and Horaki-san?

In any case, everyone present, but especially Daddy, loved her singing. And since roughly nine months later my baby-brother Takao was born, I can guess without much room for error at what happened between Daddy and Mommy when we got back home that night and I went to sleep.

…

But I'm getting sidetracked. _Again_. Sorry, Sensei.

Back on topic, I think the last word I want to give to Mommy is 'childish', and I know that's probably going to surprise you, Sensei. After all, how could the woman that's respected and known as the 'One-eyed Devil' by a lot of men twice her size be a big child while she's at home? The same woman that has the town hall in an iron grip, and that every single politician inside dares not cross?

Well, then I'll tell you that that very same woman also needs some serious prodding by a kid less than half her age so that she'll stand up from the couch and do her part of the house chores. Or that the 'One-eyed Devil' also likes to live up to her namesake by playing silly little pranks on those around her (mostly Daddy, but Auntie and me are also common mischief targets). Or that a free day on Sunday means that she won't come out from her room until lunch is cooked and served, and sometimes she won't even come out for lunch if she had a night out with her friends the previous day…

I could go on, but I think what I already said should be plenty. Mommy outside and Mommy at home are like two completely different people, and it really has to be seen to be believed. She usually tries to defend herself by saying that her position as Mayor and the sheer amount of 'Goddamn Idiots' that she has to listen to every day always leave her exhausted, and I believe her because I _know_ it's true, but since I also get tired from all the things I do every day and I never get any slack from _her_ , I'll say that it's fair to nag her a little bit and try our hardest to make Mommy into a more responsible person while at home.

(Like that's gonna ha-) I don't think we'll ever succeed at that, though.

Daddy usually compares Mommy to Katsuragi-san whenever she acts all lazy (which is often), and Mommy tends to respond by bristling like a cat and going on tirades about how they're _nothing_ alike. Tirades that might sound believable at first (Mommy _is_ a politician, after all), but that lose most of their punch the first time that you see the both of them side by side after a day's hard work.

It gets to the point that if Daddy ever thought of putting a wig on Katsuragi-san I don't think I'd be able to tell them apart, honestly. Not as long as there wasn't any alcohol involved, at least, because that's the one thing that Katsuragi-san is still uncontested on.

But yeah, the two of them are basically one-to-one outside of that, not that Mommy will ever admit it. Fitting, considering that if I could put a fourth word in here, Mommy's would 100% be 'stubborn'. Just as bad as the biggest of mules.

But I still love you, Mommy. Even if you're a pain in the ass sometimes and could be a better example back home, I also believe that you're a perfect role-model to follow outside of Daddy's castle. If I ever need to stop and think about how I'm going to handle my own future, I'll make sure to remember the way in which you fought for yours in a time when no one knew where to go or do.

I'm so proud to be your daughter.

…

But no, no matter what Daddy says whenever we argue, I'm _not_ as stubborn as you are. Am I right or am I right, Sensei?

* * *

 **A/N: And here's the second character snippet, just in time for Asuka's birthday. Two more to go!**


	3. My Auntie: Rei Ayanami

My auntie Rei is a superhero.

I know what I just said sounds silly and not at all like something a girl my age should believe in, but that's basically the only explanation I can come up with for the secret I share with her. I guess a little more information is necessary to clear up what I mean, though.

By the way, I can trust you to keep this between us, right Sensei? I mean, Auntie Rei is your friend, too, right?

In any case, my story begins on a cold and snowy winter evening. Auntie and I were coming back home from shopping for groceries, when we happened to hear a soft and pained-sounding whine coming from the side of the road. We went closer to investigate and found a little puppy lying on its side, moaning weakly and almost completely hidden under a thin mantle of snow.

'It is a Shiba Inu,' auntie Rei said as she passed her bags to me and quickly knelt down to take a closer look at the poor puppy. 'Not even a month old.'

Then, without even needing to touch him or look at him from a different angle, Auntie told me that he'd been hit very hard by something, probably a passing car that hadn't noticed him. His wounds were fatal and, even without the snow all over it sapping his strength, the doggy would likely die in just a few more minutes.

My seven-year-old self was _very_ sad at the news, I remember. I asked Auntie if there was something, _anything_ , we could do for the little puppy, but the harsh reality of the situation was that both of the town vets were a fair distance away and it was just impossible that we would make it to either of them in time.

I've always liked animals. It's no secret that I probably like them better than most people, honestly, and auntie Rei has always been very aware of this, being the insightful person that she is. Maybe that's why she decided to do what she did, back then, even if it meant coming clean on her big secret:

Suddenly putting her hand just above the injured puppy, Auntie asked me to close my eyes and, thinking she was about to mercy-kill it, I did as she asked without a second thought. But then, I heard something that sounded a whole lot like water hitting the pavement. When Auntie then asked me to open my eyes again, I was shocked to see the puppy on all fours, barking happily and running circles around Auntie with eyes full of adoration.

'You must never tell anyone about this', auntie Rei then _very_ seriously demanded, ignoring the doggy to focus entirely on me. And seven-year-old me just nodded dumbly, busy trying to make sense of what had just happened. It wasn't until we were halfway back home that I finally managed to put two and two together and figure out that Auntie was a superhero, so it was no wonder that she didn't want her secret identity to be public knowledge.

So I didn't say anything.

As a side note, the doggy followed us all the way back home and we ended up adopting him, even if Mommy wasn't completely on board with the idea at the start. Something about 'a downgrade' from a pet penguin; in any case, his name's Koro, and while he's a lot bigger now than he was back then he's still just as energetic. And obviously, he's extra happy when auntie Rei comes over to visit.

As part of her superhero duties, my auntie spends a lot of time during the year travelling to all sorts of different countries. Auntie says that she's out looking for ideas for her books and paintings, but since I became aware of her secret superhero identity I've figured that she's also helping out those in need like she did for Koro. I mean, I remember how she happened to go to the southern part of India when a huge famine was all over the news, and things improved and got a whole lot better not two weeks after Auntie had left for Austria. Very much out of nowhere and for no apparent reason, crops and livestock were suddenly growing bigger and stronger than the country had ever seen, almost like it was a miracle.

Coincidence? I think not! I mean, if there's one thing that Auntie Rei is it is kind-hearted, after all. I might as well make that another one of the words to describe her, now that I think about it.

Auntie's travels are almost endless: one week she's in Britain or Russia and the next she's in Congo or Mexico or South Africa. One postcard says that she's wearing layer above layer of clothes and the next says that she's doing her best to hide from the sun under a wide-brimmed sunhat, all in the name of helping those in need (and coming up with material for her cover-up jobs, I guess). Mommy and Daddy always say that Auntie is out working and not playing, but the stories she tells whenever she's at home sound so fun that I've always wished I could join her in a worldwide adventure, anyway.

I haven't been lucky so far, though. In fact, the one time that Auntie offered to take me with her for a few weeks, Mommy would have none of it because I would have been missing out on school for too long and Daddy didn't come to my aid like he sometimes does. Like always, auntie Rei went on her trip on her own that time, too, and I remember being so mad at Daddy and Mommy that I didn't speak to them for days.

It was really annoying, but at least Auntie Rei brought me a cool souvenir when she came back that time: a pretty T-shirt with a lot of funny-looking sheep on it. I also managed to talk Mommy into letting me go on a trip with Auntie when I turn sixteen, if I prove to her that I can miss a few weeks of class without falling behind.

Shouldn't be too hard. And I'm going to stop here before I end up going into sidetrack territory again.

For auntie Rei's second word, I think I'm going to go with 'calm'. It might be cheating a little bit because I already used that word for Daddy, but if I didn't use to describe Auntie then I would just be lying. I'm also going to cheat a little bit more and add 'insightful' to the second word, because I said it was one of Auntie's qualities earlier before but I think it can also be one of the reasons why she's usually so quiet.

Auntie Rei doesn't talk much outside of her stories, and she doesn't talk even a quarter of what Mommy does, that's for sure. She's more the listening type and doesn't miss a beat, always on guard for the things that are said and done around her so that when she _does_ speak she always has the right thing to say. Unlike Daddy, who sometimes flounders a little bit and puts his foot in his mouth.

Actually, I think that might be the biggest difference between the two: where Daddy is quiet because he doesn't like trouble and prefers to do his own thing, Auntie is quiet because she's too busy looking and listening for clues about everything around her. That amount of care and attention to detail must be why her children novels are such a big hit.

And for Auntie's last word, I think I'm going to go with 'focused', especially because I think it's funny that Auntie and Mommy argue so much when they're together considering that they're so similar as far as their work goes. The both of them are always trying to do their jobs as well as they can to the expense of almost everything else, and Daddy often says that it must be partly because of how much Mommy and Auntie worked and how much responsibility they had when they were younger.

I think that makes sense, but I also think it's a bit sad that Mommy and Auntie won't relax on their own more often. At least Makinami-sensei is there to take them away when she thinks they've been working too hard for too long.

And that actually reminds me of one time a little bit over a year ago when Auntie brought me over to her studio: I'd spent the entire afternoon begging Auntie to let me see the new stuff she'd brought from her latest trip, and finally got her to cave in during the last hour before evening. You see, Auntie's workshop isn't just the place where she paints and stores her paintings, it also doubles as something of a museum of all the things she has found during her travels and I just _love_ to see every little new item that Auntie brings back every time she returns to town.

In any case, we climbed to the top of her duplex and I wasted no time in starting my tour of the place: there were a pair of cat statuettes that looked Egyptian, a model of the leaning tower of Pisa, a hat from one of those English guards that never, ever move a muscle and a funny looking car thing, a big one at that. It had large solar panels in the middle of it and a lot of fancy looking cameras and tools, and a flag of the United States that was an obvious clue for where it had come from.

It also said Spirit on the side. Cool name.

But what really caught my eye were these cute ribbons of many colours dancing to the breeze that flew in from the half-open window, and I hurried closer to take a better look, noticing quickly that they were made of yarn. They were a flashy mesh of bright reds, blues, greens and yellows, and the colour palette reminded me _a lot_ of some traditional costumes that Makinami-sensei had shown us when learning about the mid and south Americas. Of course, I immediately asked Auntie if she had been around that area recently…

…but she didn't answer.

Curious, I turned around, and then I noticed that the reason why Auntie wasn't answering was that she was scribbling away at her picture book, stopping only to take half-second glances at the spot where I was standing. I was surprised, of course, but I also learned a long time ago not to bother Auntie when she's being all artist-like, so I just went around and looked at her other paintings and things while she was busy with her drawing. I made sure not to touch anything, of course.

Eventually, auntie Rei got finished with her work and plopped it on a nearby bench before she walked away to the storeroom muttering about colours, and I risked a quick peek at what she'd been working on so eagerly: unsurprisingly considering the time and place, it was a portrait of me looking out the window with the setting sun in the background. Well, more like a rough pencil sketch, actually, but still not bad at all considering that she drew it in like, ten or fifteen minutes. It was very pretty, as usual.

And also kinda funny-looking. I don't remember having a greenish or bluish _thing_ around me, after all. And even if it didn't take away from the beauty, it was just… weird. It's this little thing that Auntie does for every single one of her paintings. It doesn't matter if it's a person or an animal or a tree, Auntie always gives them these strange lines all around them that make them pop out a little bit more, if that makes sense.

Maybe seeing things all weird is one of her superpowers, now that I think about it? Or is that really just an artistic thing? I mean, Makinami-sensei showed us some famous paintings from some famous artists for a project one time, and while some of them were just about people or landscapes looking pretty, some others looked weird and stretched or just... plain didn't really make much sense. Maybe those lines are Auntie's artistic signature?

In any case, artists are weird, is what I mean. Almost as weird as the offhand not-answer that auntie Rei gave me when I asked her about it.

'Light of the Soul', yeah right. I'm not five anymore, Auntie!

But going back to auntie Rei, one last thing I want to mention is that sometimes she looks kinda lonely. Which is funny, because from what little I know about superheroes they always end up hooking up with someone or another pretty quick. That hasn't been the case for Auntie as far as I know, though, because I've never seen her or heard about her being with anyone else in a romantic way.

And that makes me sad, because if there's anyone in the world who deserves to be happy, that someone is my kind-hearted auntie Rei. That's a problem that could be hard to fix, though, because Auntie's circle of friends is very, very small. In fact, and I know it probably sounds a bit strange coming from me of all people, but I think she could do with meeting some more people and making new friends.

Then again, I could be completely wrong and maybe Auntie does meet and make friends with new people in all of her travels and I just don't know about it. It doesn't look like that to me, though, and that makes me a bit worried for her. I know Daddy and Mommy have been worried, too.

The only person who doesn't seem to be worried is auntie Rei herself, actually. I mean, when I asked her about why she didn't try something like a dating service the only thing she did was smile at me and say that she had 'All the time in the world' to find a partner.

Which is a load of bull. I'll give Auntie that she does look quite a bit younger than Mommy does (much to Mommy's eternal annoyance), but it's not like she's going to live forever. If she keeps on acting like she is right now, it's only going to end up with her being lonely her entire life! And that would just be... _sad_.

But I'll be damned if I'm going to let that happen, and I just _know_ that you'll be with me on this one, too, Sensei. We are going to find that stubborn aunt of mine a person that she can be happy with whether she grumbles about it or not, and what better way to start with than with that _huge_ pile of people that Sensei is friends with? Auntie's soulmate just _has_ to be in there, somewhere!

...But this has gone _way_ out of hand already, so we should probably leave our planning for some other time. Time to finish this essay!

I love you, Auntie, and even if they've never met you in person, I just _know_ that there are hundreds of thousands of people around the world who love you as much as I do, too. Being a superhero and helping those that need saving will do that for you, and even if we're only talking about the smaller details, painting your pictures and writing your books so that the imagination of just as many people can fly free is nothing to scoff at, either.

You deserve to be happy as much as anyone, Auntie. And I know that you say you have all the time in the world, but I hope we'll succeed at finding your special someone sooner rather than later, anyway.

[ I ] - [ 3 ] - [ W ]

"And it's _done_!"

The pen hits the top of my table as I relax against the back of my chair. After all, and even knowing that I had plenty of stuff to talk about when it came to Auntie, this one got _long_. I stretch my arms and legs and groan a little at the tingling that I feel from the latter, before fighting back a yawn and spying a glance at the tabletop clock.

It's 19:13PM, so I should still have a short while to play with Koro before dinner's ready. Gotta review my work before I consider it truly done, though, so I blink the drowsiness away and pick up the piece of paper containing my masterwork.

And then I stop.

"...But now that I think about it, maybe giving this out isn't such a great idea," I ponder, reading the first few lines of the essay time and time again. "It's not that I don't trust Sensei to keep Auntie's real job a secret, but if auntie Rei was so serious about keeping it to myself…"

…

"Mmm… I guess I really should redo those parts, and this entire thing could _really_ use some trimming, besides. Sensei did say that learning how to summarise was important," I finally decide with a sad sigh, concluding that playtime with Koro will have to wait until after dinner and picking up the pen once more. "It's not going to be the same without that starting punch, but that's still _way_ better than disappointing Auntie. Better get to it!"

* * *

 **A/N: This one got far longer than I thought it would, but it was still a lot of fun to write. One more to go!**


	4. My Sensei: Mari Makinami

' _I used to think that school was easy and boring, but a special teacher changed that and taught me the joy of learning something new from everything.'_

I tap the pen against my nose and stare at the two lines of black against white. What I've written so far works very well as a start, but I'm drawing a blank on what I should follow it up with.

After all, I was sure from the beginning that I wanted this last essay to be about Sensei, but she has come up so much in the other parts that I don't really know what else to say about her. I guess I'll start by writing that I couldn't be happier to have her as my teacher, and that everyone else in class thinks the same, too, girls and boys alike. The boys especially are always going out of their way to remind the other classes of just how _awesome_ Makinami-sensei is, and they try five times as much whenever Sensei is within earshot.

I can't blame them, but they're crushing _so_ _hard_ on Sensei that it's almost sad to watch. They're fifteen years too young to even be worth her time, though, and then the idiots would need to grow their brains another fifty or sixty odd years to match Sensei's intelligence.

But I guess I should follow their example and make 'awesome' into one of Sensei's words. Pen to the paper!

...

' _...and the Projects we work on with Sensei are almost as awesome as she is.'_ There, one down.

Speaking of that, I still don't understand why Makinami-sensei's single. She's very pretty and always happy, she's smart and a great teacher, and the restaurant always fills up when her band is performing so she's obviously also really popular as well. Logically thinking about the problem like Sensei has taught us tells me that there should be absolutely no way that people aren't lining up to ask her out, but that's… actually not happening. Or at least no one that I know of has come out victorious from that question.

And I'm pretty sure of that because, while there could be plenty of stuff going on in Sensei's private life, of course (I'm not around her 24-7, after all), if Sensei had gotten together with someone at some point, I'm certain that I would have heard something out of Mommy. Unlike me, Mommy's really bad at keeping secrets and, besides, the town is really not _that_ big. If someone, somewhere, had seen Marie having fun with a 'friend', it would have made the rounds all through town quicker than Mommy can call Daddy a 'Baka'.

And since all the boys in class haven't fallen into the pits of despair yet, I guess it's safe to say that Makinami-sensei's still available, illogical as it may be.

When we asked her about that one day, the answer she gave us was that 'All her love was used up with her awesome students', and that she had nothing left to give to anyone else. It was obviously one of Makinami-sensei's usual jokes and we all laughed together at it, but her words reminded me about Auntie's comment on 'Having all the time in the world' and how lonely she had looked at the time.

Makinami-sensei didn't look lonely at all, but I still made her a good luck charm during our next Arts & Crafts period, anyway, a small necklace made of seashells that I hoped would help her find that special someone one day. When I offered it to her at the end of the lesson she gave me the biggest of smiles, and told me that she would treasure it and wear it to her next jazz performances for however long it lasted. And I remember nodding along to Sensei's words, thinking that with how pretty and perfect she always looked during her concerts there was simply no way she would break the image by wearing something an eleven year old had thrown together in little more than half an hour…

…but the awesome thing is that Marie _did_ wear it.

And I wasn't the only one to notice, because that night the audience kept on murmuring during the pauses between songs about how strange it was to see Marie wearing something so unusual. But no one actually raised the question until the very last moment of the band's customary end of concert Q&A session, when a well-dressed man couldn't keep his curiosity any longer and straight out asked Marie about the hand-made necklace.

And just then, after catching my eye for a second and giving me a wink before she smiled at the man, Marie answered him by saying that it was 'a heartfelt gift from my special someone'.

Immediately, the hall ran abuzz with people whispering about what Marie had just said, but Sensei just grinned impishly and took it in stride, playing the game as some other parts of the audience followed suit and bombarded her with questions. Me, on the other hand...

...Well, let's just say that, until then, I'd never known you could feel embarrassed, happy and satisfied all at the same time.

…

The embarrassment then won by a landslide when word got out to Mum that _I_ had been the 'special someone' Marie was talking about. Still, that's probably a memory I'm going to keep for a long time, so thank you, Sensei.

And what I just remembered is a good way of putting Sensei in a nutshell, now that I think about it. It might be a little flirtier when she's wearing her Marie persona, but that same exuberance and positive outlook towards everything is the same no matter where she is or what she's doing.

Some of the more traditional people in town might say that Sensei's nature borders on shameless, but I think it's more fitting to say that Sensei is 'energetic', or 'enthusiastic', and that she just likes being with people a lot. I mean, whenever she's showing off the next idea she's been working on to the class or we're actually working on it, Sensei's always the very first to be hyped about what she's talking about or what we're doing. I guess those same people who call Makinami-sensei's behaviour improper would probably say something even more idiotic if they saw Sensei constantly acting like she's our age, but Sensei's mountains of enthusiasm towards everything is just her way of motivating us towards doing our best. How she sells the class the latest project she's been working on, in short, and I'm living proof that her method works really well.

Hmm... I should probably write that down, too.

' _...Sensei's endless energy and constant happiness make me glad that I get to work with her every day.'_ There, this essay is taking shape now!

But, again, and after everything she has done for us, I can't help but keep on thinking that it's such a shame that Makinami-sensei is single. All of that happy energy is meant to be shared with someone else, so it just doesn't feel right that...

…

…Then again, maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. I mean, what if I'm understanding the problem incorrectly? What if I'm wrong on my assumption that Makinami-sensei doesn't have a sweetheart?

What if Sensei's _waiting_ on someone?

Mmm, that idea has a bit of merit… I mean, I know for a fact that Sensei's pretty good at bringing people together (it's completely possible that I wouldn't _exist_ if it wasn't for her, after all) so chances are that she's not a stranger to love, and knows more than the basics of it. In fact, Sensei probably knows a lot more than that considering just how flirty her Marie persona is. I remember how Daddy complained that Marie wouldn't stop teasing him during his first practice sessions with the band, actually, so it just follows that such a person wouldn't be on their own for long.

Yeah! That must be it! Sensei already has a person she loves and they're just… away, doing... something! And Sensei has resolved to wait until they come back so they can get married and create a family and live happily ever after! Yeah! That sounds perfectly fitting for a romantic like Sensei!

' _...So, who is it, Sensei? Is it one of the people from the government that come visit from time to time, or that friend of Daddy's that's doing the rounds around the world for some magazine, or someone else entirely?! Please tell me! I swear I won't tell anyone you don't want me to!_

 _I mean, you can trust me, right?'_

I can barely contain my excitement as I leave the pen on the desk, and I find myself wishing that the hours will hurry up and pass so that tomorrow can come. The answer to one of the biggest questions in my life is less than 86.400 seconds away, after all! Less than half that time, actually. I'm sure that Sensei will come clean to her favourite student after I've managed to come this far, right? Even if she has never spoken about it before, for whatever reason.

...But now I realise that I've just spent this entire essay gossiping. Damn. And I've still got one more word to give to Sensei, too! But at least that one's easy:

I pick up the pen and carefully write 'exemplary' on the next line, then ready myself for elaborating on that word.

' _If Mommy is my role-model for never giving up no matter what the world throws my way, Sensei is the one that will always remind me to live my life to the fullest._

 _I love you, Makinami-sensei. I'm so glad that you're my teacher and that you taught me how to look at the world with different eyes. A town without you in it wouldn't be the same, and I don't need to ask Mommy, Daddy, Auntie and everyone else in town to know that they agree. You're the heart of our home for all of us, so make sure that you always remember to take good care of yourself!'_

 _P.S: I_ swear _I won't tell! So let me know who your sweetheart is after class, alright?! Don't wait too long and let them escape! ^_^_

* * *

 **A/N:** **Sorry it took so long to get this one finished. I'd like to say that it was because I've been busy during the holiday season, but the honest truth is that this part has been ready to upload for about a week now and I've just been procrastinating on doing so for some reason. But with this fourth part we see the end of _In Three Words_ , a story that won't set the world on fire, but one that I still believe came mostly alright for what it was.**

 **I'll be going back to working on the main story I'm writing now, so see you again when that's ready. Or when I come up with some other short story idea, whatever comes sooner.**

 **Have a nice 2019, dear reader. :)**


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